Summit Entertainment

What else is there to say about New Moon that hasn't already been gushed? That the sequel to you-know-what starring you-know-who and -who and -who, grossed a record-setting, undead-enlivening, "absolutely freakish" $26.3 million in Friday midnight screenings?

Well, there's that.

Yes, New Moon usurped the midnight crown from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($22.2 million), which ousted The Dark Knight ($18.5 million) this past July. Nudge the person in the theater next to you, and pass it on.

How do we know you're reading this on a hand-held at a multiplex? Because chances are you are.

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Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

It is time to get off Carrie Prejean's back about her chest. The woman is correct. The Bible absolutely, positively does not say, "You shouldn't get breast implants." In those exact words.

We have reached this conclusion after seeking counsel and revving up the search engine at BibleGateway.com.

We are sorry we didn't take Prejean's word from the get-go. It just sounded like a rationalization from a beauty queen turned inspirational memoirist. But a little bit of faith would've saved us time, not to mention the embarrassment of having to ask students of the Bible for their thoughts on—how should we say?—pageant helpers.

Our findings—and, yes, our defense of Ms. Prejean—are as follows: 

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Summit Entertainment

Twilight was huge. New Moon will be huger.

Um, won't it?

Sure, go ahead, and call it now. You won't be disappointed. (Unless you were seriously expecting Teams Edward and Jacob to sink Titanic.)

Projections have New Moon, rising in theaters midnight Friday—following the one-night-only theatrical return of Twilight—grossing anywhere in the Forks, Wash., neighborhood of $80 million to $100 million by the close of Sunday, and maybe $200 million-plus when all is said and done and swooned over.

On either the high or "low" end, the presumed opening-weekend take would put the sequel in elite company, and leave the franchise with nothing to fear—except perhaps its own hot, media-dominating self.

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ABC; ABC/Donna Svennevik

Sarah Palin's poll numbers are through the roof.

Monday's Oprah Winfrey Show, featuring the first stop on Palin's Going Rogue book tour, scored the daytime talk show's highest ratings in two years, reports said. 

And, yes, that means Palin outdrew the chimp-attack victim, Mackenzie Phillips' shocking daddy disclosure,  and Ellen DeGeneres' wedding video, to name three recent high-profile Oprah Winfrey gets.

Never underestimate the appeal of a pistol-packin' former vice presidential candidate with Levi Johnston problems, apparently.

Elsewhere in TV-ratings land, Heather Locklear saved Melrose Place last night. Well, sort of.

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Why should Larry King have walked out on Carrie Prejean? Did Gossip Girl's threesome radiate an afterglow? And what did Craig Ferguson do that Craig Ferguson had never done before?

The answers—and more questions—in the latest TV ratings quiz:

1. Whom did viewers find more "inappropriate," Carrie Prejean or Larry King? Judging by the numbers, Prejean. Wednesday's Larry King Live, featuring Prejean (and to be fair, other guests, as well), was the CNN show's second least-watched episode of the week, averaging only 633,000, or only a fraction of what clips of the Prejean-King dust-up scored on YouTube.

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Sony Pictures

The world may live to see 2013, after all…

The apocalyptic-minded 2012 started off in theaters with a $65 million bang, per estimates, beating projections and the weekend competition. 

Elsewhere, bigger wasn't always better—or bigger. In limited release, the potential Oscar heavyweight Precious continued to loom incredibly large ($6.1 million at only 174 theaters), while Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox  enjoyed a fantastic debut ($260,000 at four theaters). 

Stay tuned for the complete standings.

Kimberley French/Summit Entertainment

We are not prudes. We are simply scared shirtless.

With every new still of Taylor Lautner and his tersely torsoed Twilight-affiliated wolf pack, we grow concerned that our nation's impressionable young men are taking notes—and thinking about taking off their T-shirts.

What's the problem with New Moonings, you ask? Why can't guys go wild like a Joe Francis DVD? What's the downside?

Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Except all sorts of terrible things, up to and including, economic ruin and wrinkles. And not necessarily in that order.

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Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

At first glance, it sure looked like Glee's Rachel and Kurt picked the wrong night to do a diva-off against Taylor Swift.

Just days after Swift led Saturday Night Live to its best ratings of the season, the singing sensation helped the Country Music Association Awards to its biggest audience in four years.

The ABC telecast, featuring big wins by Swift, Swift, Swift and Swift, averaged nearly 17 million viewers, easily winning Wednesday's prime-time race.

So, was it curtains for Glee, after all?

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AP Photo/Denis Poroy

There's something about Carrie Prejean that makes us suspicious.

Much as her book-flap copy might like to believe, our eyebrows are not cocked because of the former pageant queen's beliefs. Look, Sarah Palin's an acquired taste, too, but we're not driven to concoct wild theories about why she's doing Oprah next week. (In that case, we'd only be suspicious if Palin didn't do Oprah.) 

So, no, it's not Prejean's ideas that make us think she's up to something. It's her timing.

As in, can you believe her sex-tape scandal broke four days before her book-flap copy—and the rest of the tome—was published?

We can't.

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Giovanni Rufino/ The CW

How many people had their Lizzie Maguire memories destroyed by Gossip Girl last night? How bad did Rihanna's interview show up Chris Brown's? And why would Saturday Night Live never dream of pulling a Kanye West on Taylor Swift?

The answers—and more questions—in this week's TV ratings quiz:

1. So, was that threesome good for Gossip Girl? It wasn't bad, especially considering the event was nothing more explicit than three people (Penn Badgley, Jessica Szhor and Disney grad Hilary Duff) not kissing at the same time. The CW show was up 18 percent from last week: 2.3 million estimated viewers versus 1.95 million, per Nielsen stats.

2. What were the two most surprising things about the episode? One, the show lost viewers as it headed into its threesome-boasting final half-hour; two, teenage boys chose to watch The Big Bang Theory instead. (The show did best, per usual, among young adult women.)

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Disney

Holiday movie season and high Oscar season have kicked off. But only one is kicking butt.

While Jim Carrey's A Christmas Carol led a bah-humbug weekend with an underwhelming $31 million, per estimates, the Oprah Winfrey- and Tyler Perry-backed award-show contender Precious grossed a stunning $1.8 million at only 18 theaters.

Elsewhere, Michael Jackson's This Is It did its thing (solid $14 million here, bigger $29 million overseas), George Clooney's The Men Who Stare at Goats ($13.3 million) did better than expected for a movie with goats and George Clooney in it, and Cameron Diaz's The Box ($7.9 million) just didn't really open. 

Stay tuned for the complete Top 10 standings.

The CW / Andrew Eccles

We hear the Parents Television Council is counting the reasons why Monday's touted Gossip Girl threesome shouldn't be aired. We see a like-minded group in South Carolina is making a similar case. And we gather some unaligned parents may be forming their own concerns.

What we don't understand is why everyone doesn't understand: Threesomes on TV are good; threesomes on Gossip Girl are better!

Go ahead, object to this.

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